Facebook has started testing a new feature called 'Promoted Posts', which allows users to pay to get their posts more visibility in the news feeds of their friends. Currently available for U.S. users, the new feature is considered to be Facebook's desperate attempt to reduce its dependance on the advertisers for the revenue generation.

“Every day, news feed delivers your posts to your friends. Sometimes a particular friend might not notice your post, especially if a lot of their friends have been posting recently and your story isn’t near the top of their feed,” wrote Facebook's Abhishek Doshi in a post announcing the test.

Stressing the need to promote a post, Doshi adds, “When you promote a post – whether it’s wedding photos, a garage sale, or big news – you bump it higher in news feed so your friends and subscribers are more likely to notice it.”

Facebook hasn't revealed the going price for Promoted Posts, but the initial cost is expected to be around $7.0. Apart from giving prominent visibility, the feature will come with a tool that lets you see how many people have seen your post.

Facebook's Pay to Promote test had initially began in New Zealand earlier this year. And gradually rolled out to users in more than 20 nations. The Pay to Promote feature is already available for business pages on Facebook.

When you promote a post you can see how many more of your friends noticed it.

It is unlikely that Facebook users will pay to promote their regular and random status and photos. But for events such as birthdays, anniversaries; users may shell out some money.

After Facebook's IPO debacle, the company has been under immense pressure to up its revenue. The company has of late experimented with quite a few features to make money. Recently, the company announced launching 'Gifts' service, which allowed users to send real gifts to their friends on special occasion.

Will you pay Facebook to promote your posts? Let us know in the comments section below: